Secrecy and Security News

November 2005

China may have upper hand in five years: US report by Charles Snyder, Taipei Times, November 30. "The document, China Naval Modernization: Implications for US Naval Capabilities, Background and Issues for Congress, was prepared by the Congressional Research Service. It was published on Monday by the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, an organization that brings security-related information to public attention."

Leak probe on intelligence budget slip by Shaun Waterman, United Press International, November 14. "Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte has asked one of his deputies to look into the circumstances under which another of them may have accidentally revealed the classified size of the annual U.S. intelligence budget."

Firm helps U.S. mold news abroad by Stephen J. Hedges, Chicago Tribune, November 13. "In an effort to fight what it sees as an insidious propaganda war waged by terrorists, from incendiary Web sites to one-sided television images of the Iraq war, the Pentagon has been quietly waging its own information battle throughout the Middle East and Central Asia."

FBI, Pentagon pay for access to trove of public records by Shane Harris, National Journal, November 11. "To help the government track suspected terrorists and spies who may be visiting or residing in this country, the FBI and the Defense Department for the past three years have been paying a Georgia-based company for access to its vast databases that contain billions of personal records about nearly every person -- citizens and noncitizens alike -- in the United States."

Congressional Leaders Seek Leak Inquiry, letter from Majority Leader Frist and Speaker Hastert, November 4 (signed November 8). "We request that you immediately initiate a joint investigation into the possible release of classified
information to the media alleging that the United States government may be detaining and interrogating
terrorists at undisclosed locations abroad."

Intelligence budget is $44 billion by Stephen Losey, Federal Times, November 8. "The revelation of one of the government's best-kept secrets -- the total size of the intelligence budget -- shows that information is overclassified and should be regularly reported, one secrecy expert argues."

Official Reveals Budget for U.S. Intelligence by Scott Shane, New York Times, November 8. "In an apparent slip, a top American intelligence official has revealed at a public conference what has long been secret: the amount of money the United States spends on its spy agencies."

Frist urges germ spies by Jeff Nesmith, Atlanta Journal Constitution, November 5. "A bill moving rapidly through the Senate would create a secretive national research center to respond to bioterrorism threats and natural disease outbreaks."

Classified article in journal raises questions on Vietnam War by Katherine Shrader, Associated Press, November 1. "The National Security Agency has been blocking the release of an article by one of its historians that says intelligence officers falsified documents about a disputed attack that was used to escalate the Vietnam War, according to a researcher who has requested the article."